If the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbor, would America have ever become directly involved in WW2?

Answer 1

Absolutely and probably not much later than December 1941 either.

What a lot of American history buffs tend to forget about the Pacific War is just like they were in Europe, the Americans were the last one to the "party" and their leaders made a lot of very deliberate choices prior to Pearl Harbour to get themselves there. The Japanese and their various Chinese opponents had been fighting it out for a decade already in 1941 and the struggle was getting them nowhere. When Hitler had overtaken his western neighbours in 1940 however the whole dynamic of south-east Asia changed. The Dutch central government was in exile, there was a collaborationist government in France, and the British were fighting for their very lives and this meant there was no direction from the capitals while the colonial defensive capabilities withered away. This gave the Japanese an opportunity and they took it in early 1941 by having the Nazis bully the French collaborators to make allowances for a Japanese military presence in Indochina and shut down the railway north into China. This shut off both the Kuomontang and the Maoists from any outside aid and allowed for deeper bomber incursions into the interior of China. In response Congress gave the executive the ability to enact embargos against Japan to help the Chinese effort and it was in that decision that the groundwork was laid for confrontation with Japan. When the fuel and metals embargo went into effect in September 1941 in response to Japan assuming Indochina as a "protectorate" the course of the war was set. Japan was dependant upon the US for the vast majority of its fuel and metallic material. Without either the Japanese would not be able to continue fighting the Chinese or even start on their plans to invade the Soviet Union in co-operation with the Nazis. They had to find their own source for that and the only place they could go was Indonesia. This made it necessary to knock out the Americans and the British that were there in order to hold the Dutch colonies. The Japanese simply had no other choice than giving up and going home. By that point, armed conflict was inevitable. The fact that it started at Pearl Harbour was only really incidental.

Answer 2

Whether Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor or not, America would have definitely gotten involved in WW2. The Americans always like think that they have a right to rule over everybody, even if the American is wrong, he is always right. That is why they destroyed Soviet Union, and now they are trying to destroy the Arab Nations, in fact I feel that WW3 has already started with the American invasion of Iraq and the hanging of Saddam, the only thing left now is destroying the nuclear facilities of Iran and N.Korea, with that what the Americans started in WW2 will end.

Answer 3

I somewhat doubt it since the only person within the US government who wanted to get involved earlier was FDR and without the backing of the Senate and Congress he wasn't getting far. The majority of the US populace were of an isolationist feel and regarded it as Europes war. More frighteningly there was almost as large a group who felt that the US should get involved on the side of Nazi Germany. The largest Nazi rally outside of Germany was in Madison Square Garden and there were many who believed it was time that the British Empire was taught a lesson. Industrialists like Henry Ford and Prescott Bush alongside politicians such as Joseph Kennedy were among this group. So without the attack by Japan and the declaration of war by Germany it's likely the US would not have involved itself militarily at all.

Answer 4

Probably not.
A lot of Americans backed Germany including Joseph Kennedy the American ambassador to London. He was the father of JFK.
In 1941 Standard Oil of America gave the Nazis the process for making synthetic rubber. This probably prolonged the war in Europe by several months.

Answer 5

I think so, I actually just got a documentary about D-Day yesterday and in it it says that they were already planning to get involved before Pearl Harbor.

Answer 6

Probably not. We had become largely a pacifist nation, healing from WW1, and wanted no part of the war, even after England begged for help.
Had we gotten involved sooner, history dictates the war would have been over years sooner, and millions of lives would have been saved.
In war, proaction is the most vital action.

Answer 7

Public opinion was against it, there is nothing like getting attacked to get the public in favor of going to war, examples; The Alamo-Mexican War, The Maine- Spanish American War, The Lusitania-WW1, World Trade Center- Afghanistan.

Answer 8

More than likely we would have. The German UBoat commanders had already been given approval to broaden their attacks on Atlantic shipping in order to stop US supplies from reaching England. It was just a matter of time before incidents involving US ships began piling up.

Answer 9

I would think they probably would have.

You ahve to remember that today many people believe that FDR knew about the incoming attacks and also know we needed it to become involved in the war.

The U.S. had financially backed the allies to such a point that we could not afford for them to lose. We needed a reason to enter and end our period of isolationism.

Answer 10

They were looking for an excuse to get involved, that was just as handy as any.

The arms merchants remembered the lucrative contracts of WW1 and wanted a replay.

Look at the billions missing in Iraq, somethings never change.

love and blessings Don